3.1 Ethernet Network Cable

Ethernet is the most common wired network connector. Ethernet cable uses the RJ-45 connector, which is also known and 8P8C (8 position, 8 contact).

Cat 5 and Cat 5e are most commonly used for gigabit speed. While Cat 6 and Cat 6a are used for 10 gigabit speed.

Cat 5

• UTP cable, 100-Mbps
• Maximum Supported Ethernet Standard: 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T
• Maximum Supported Distance: 100 meters

Cat 5e

• UTP cable, 1000-Mbps
• Maximum Supported Ethernet Standard: 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T
• Maximum Supported Distance: 100 meters

Cat 6

• UTP cable
• 10-Gbps @ 55 meter segment lengths
• Maximum Supported Ethernet Standard: 10GBASE-T

Cat 6A

• Maximum Supported Ethernet Standard: 10GBASE-T
• 1000-Mbps @ 100 meters segment lengths
• Maximum Supported Distance: 100 meters

Plenum

• Plenum has fire retardant jacket. Traditional cable jackets are made up of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). If PVC catches on fire, it produces toxic fumes. Plenum rated cable uses Fluorinated ethylene polymer (FEP) or low smoke PVC.
• Costs more
• Plenum rated cable is not as flexible as tradition cable.
• Used in plenum space (space in ceiling, under the floors, and in walls)

Shielded twisted pair

• Twisted pairs of wires surrounded by shielding to protect from EMI
• Twisted pair cabling uses balanced pair operation meaning that there are two wires with equal and opposite signals. There are 2 wires sending the same information but one is a positive value and one is a negative value. The wires are twisted so that a single wire is constantly moving away from the interference. The opposite signals are compared to each other to repair anything that may have been lost from the interference.
• The shield goes around each twisted pair and/or the overall cable.
• STP requires the cable to be grounded.
• Abbreviations: S- Braided shielding
• Abbreviations: F- Foil shielding
• The naming convention is the shielding around the overall cable / shielding around the individual twisted pairs. For example S/FTP stands for braided shielding around the entire cable and foil around the twisted pairs. F/UTP stands for foil around the cable and no shielding around the twisted pairs.

Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)

UTP has no additional shielding. It is the most common twisted pair cabling since it is cheaper than shielded twist pair. UTP just consists of the PVC jacket and the cables inside.

• Abbreviations: U: Unshielded

568A/B

T568A and T568B are standard terminations for twisted pair cabling. They determine different pin assignments for Ethernet RJ-45 connectors.

You can’t terminate one side of a cable with the 568A standard and the other end with a 568B standard. Otherwise, you’ll run into problems.

Generally, T568A is used for horizontal cabling. However, many organizations traditionally use 568B.

568A orders the wires in the following order:

1. White and Green
2. Green
3. White and Orange
4. Blue
5. White and Blue
6. Orange
7. White and Brown
8. Brown

685B orders the wires in the following order:

1. White and Orange
2. Orange
3. White and Green
4. Blue
5. White and Blue
6. Green
7. White and Brown
8. Brown